Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

Culture of death

This gives you a peek inside a crematory but the author sprinkles in some history on the human relationship with our own mortality, the rituals supporting those and the evolution to where we are now. It has just enough ick factor to keep you entertained but I feel like i learned a lot and I wasn’t expecting that. Growing up with a dad who worked part time at a funeral home (and babysitting myself amongst the caskets and next to the embalming room while he worked a wake above) I hang on to an interest in where we go and what happens to us when we die. For me knowledge is power, and knowing the details however grotesque actually helps me not fear the inevitable end.

Chose this book on a whim for something to listen to while at work, found it funny how much I was familiar with the cremation/embalming processes explained in this book based on a mortuary assistant simulator video game I poured hours of my life into lmfao

There are many different elements to this book- historical tidbits about death, the memoir aspect which answers questions we are all thinking such as "what makes someone go into this field?" and "how does one stomach the nature of this job?", the many different things that can happen to a body when it decays, our cultural views of death, and the harmful societal perspectives of end of life care. Knocking a star because it was slower towards the end, but overall I had a good time and would recommend!

Important.

Weirdly made me want to work in a crematory even though I know I could not handle it.

This was such an enjoyable read I finished it in one day. Caitlin Doughty’s writing style is both insightful and hilarious. A fascinating look into working in the death-industry.